Semiconductor devices and other discrete circuit components are often packaged in a suitable media for shipping after manufacture. For example, individual semiconductor devices are initially held by loose packing media, such as JEDEC trays, TESEC trays, multi-channel metal magazines, or tubes, and will then be transferred to an immobilizing media, such as a tape media. Tape media typically comprise a first layer of tape on which the semiconductor devices are placed. A second layer of tape is then applied over the first layer of tape, and the two layers of tape are sealed by a suitable mechanism, such as by the application of a vacuum, heat, or pressure. The tape-packaged semiconductor devices are then stored by rolling the tape into a roll. Thousands of semiconductor devices or other components may be shipped using such existing systems and methods.
Regardless of the type of media that are used to loosely pack or to immobilize the devices or components, it is often necessary to transfer the devices or components between the first and second media. Performing such transfers manually is a time-consuming and repetitive process that is not well adapted for human labor. Robotic and automated processes for transferring components from the loose-packing media to the immobilizing media have been implemented and are known in the art.
Nevertheless, it may be necessary on occasion to transfer the semiconductor components from the immobilizing media to the loose packing media, such as when a defect or other anomaly is found to occur in an unacceptable number of semiconductor components or devices. The transfer of components from a tape-based packing media to a loose packing media is then accomplished by manually removing the tape layers from manually-cut sections of the tape packing media, and manual placement of the semiconductor devices or components into the loose packing media. This manual process can be time-consuming and expensive, but there are no known automated or robotic systems that can perform this process automatically.